Prince of the Pond
by oddbird
Summary: A twisted fairytale about a prince, a frog and a glass ball, and a bit about a poor blue fish that has to witness it all. NaruSasu AU
1. Chapter 1

**Name:** Prince of the Pond  
**Author:** Ibilintu/Aryna/DaftDays  
**Pairing:** NaruSasu  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** MxM sex  
**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi, I'm just borrowing and making no profit at all.

**A/N:** A Christmas fic that is super late _ Thanks to a writers block. I suppose it's alright, and I hope you enjoy it!**  
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For Clarisa

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_Once upon a time there was a beautiful place called Fire Kingdom. It was ruled by a wise yet strict king and his beautiful wife, and they lived in a castle in the middle of the Kingdom with their servants. They had two sons, both equally handsome on the outside and intelligent on the inside, adored by all the people living within the borders of the Kingdom. But in their father's eyes, there was a difference between the two princes. Whilst the crown prince was greatly spoiled and loved by his father, the younger prince, was left without his father's love and attention. The first son was perfect in every way, whereas the second son was claimed to be useless by the king.  
_

_The gentle queen tried her best to make her sons feel like they were treated equally, but without success. Thus grew the younger prince to be quiet and enjoy solitude and silence. He was never seen enjoying the glorious ball dances that his parents held in the castle, and regardless of the attention of all the fairest noble ladies he remained unattached to everyone and kept to himself. _

_The prince wasn't unhappy though. He didn't seek the attention that was given to him, neither did he desire any of the ladies around him. He was content on his own, books were enough of a company for him and his rarely occurring nightly encounters never involved a presence of a lady. And as long as he was quiet and obeyed orders, the prince was left alone for his , studying under his own tutor being the only request his father had for him. _

Sasuke sighed, staring out of his window with a heavy sigh escaping his lips. It was such a beautiful sunset and here he was, sitting inside because he didn't know where his parents were. He knew Itachi had left for a hunting trip for a few days, but his parents, the king and the queen of the Fire Kingdom had to be there somewhere.

He wanted to go out. The sun was still shining and it was such a nice summer evening, but he had been told to stay inside. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure why, but he had learned long ago not to question his father's decisions or orders. There had been time when he had felt like standing up against his father was worth the beating it always brought upon him, but those days were in the past. Now he was rebellious only under the surface, waiting for a time when he could do whatever he wanted to. Which wouldn't come before Itachi was crowned to be the king.

Letting out another deep sigh, Sasuke pushed himself away from the window. He was so ready to run to the wall or something, just to do something. It was so boring in here when he couldn't really go out for whatever reason it was, and he didn't really feel like reading. He rolled his eyes at the mirror on the wall and then gave the window one bitter glare more.

And oh, wasn't he glad he did. His eyes caught movement from the outside, and the raven rushed back to the window, staring at the road leading out of the castle grounds. There was a fancy carriage and some guards following it, and having ridden the said carriage way too many times before Sasuke immediately recognized it as his parents' official carriage.

His parents were leaving. For one reason or another they were leaving the castle at such an hour, and that meant they wouldn't be here to supervise him. Guards, sure, and other staff, but they usually didn't really care much about the rebellious young prince as long as he didn't cause any harm to anyone.

As soon as the carriage had disappeared from the gates Sasuke was up. He hurried to the door and then down the hallway and the stone stairs until he reached the bottom floor. He didn't risk it by sneaking out from the front or the kitchen door but one that was on the side and lead to a storage room. It was used very rarely by anyone else but Sasuke, and he got to sneak to the backyard in peace. Not that anyone often bothered him anyway.

A little bit away from the castle there was beautiful little pond in the middle of a peaceful grove. The pond had always been there, and it had been Sasuke's favorite place in the castle grounds as long as he could remember. When he had been really young, his nanny had brought him there so many times to play, and when he'd gotten a bit older, the age when people didn't think he was going to fall to the water and drown, he'd come there by himself. It was the best place for being alone, he'd spent countless hours there reading and he'd rarely been bothered. However, as he'd grown up a bit he had slowly stopped going there, mostly because the oldeer he got, the busier he was. Now he went to the pond hardly once a month, and that was only during the summer.

The light wasn't quite that bright anymore, but Sasuke still remembered the path to the pond. Maybe there were new branches trying to hit his face and longer grass on his feet, but he knew where to go and it made it easy to find the pond. Despite the hour, there was still plenty of light on the small clearing around the pond, and Sasuke stood there for a moment, watching the clear glistening water. He couldn't help but to smile a little as he looked up to a large oak tree near the water. That oak had one particularly long and thick branch that fell over the water, and on that branch Sasuke had spent hours sitting on when he'd been a kid. Now he wasn't sure if the branch would carry his weight anymore.

Shaking his head, the raven turned his gaze back to the water. He wasn't sure what had drawn him to the pond, but it sure felt good to be alone. It was so quiet here as well, he could hear his own breathing when he listened to it closely enough. The water rippled softly as a fish caught a bug from the surface and Sasuke smirked as he heard a frog croak somewhere close. He turned to look down to see if he could locate the animal, but instead he saw something else. A ball.

But it wasn't just any ball. Many years ago, when Sasuke had been only a young boy, he had been sitting on his tree branch reading a book. Earlier the day, he had received a beautiful glass ball from his mother as she had returned from her visit to the neighboring Whirlpool country. The ball was just the right size to fit into Sasuke's hand, and in the middle of it there had been water that swirled like a wide whirlpool. His mother had told him it was magic.

Sasuke had taken the beautiful ball with him to the pond and placed it in his pocket so he would remember to take it with him, but when he had been about to leave the ball had slid out of his pocket and fallen straight into the pond. He remembered watching in horror as the ball broke the surface and kept sinking to the very bottom.

It had been way too deep for him to go and fetch it, and so Sasuke had returned to the castle without his glass ball. He had received scolding for losing it and he remembered how disappointed his mother had looked when she had been told that the ball was lost, but after a couple of years Sasuke hadn't really thought about it anymore.

Yet there it was, sitting on the shore and the water still swirling inside. Frowning, Sasuke stepped closer and stared at the ball, wondering how it had ended up on the shore on its own. He was sure no-one had walked to the pond and brought it to the shore because they would've taken the ball with them for sure, but there it was and all Sasuke could do was to bend down and pick it up.

It felt cool and damp to his fingers, and Sasuke stroked the glass with his thumb, feeling all the more amazed by it. As he looked down, he could see nothing but a frog peeking from the shore water near the spot where he had taken the ball, and with a despising sneer Sasuke crouched down and reached to poke the frog.

"Well hello, slimeball. Did you pick my ball up for me?"

He couldn't have been more shocked as the frog opened its mouth and bit him.

Sasuke let out a startled yelp and scrambled backwards, finally ending up sitting on the ground and staring at the animal with loathing in his eyes.

"What the hell...", he grumbled, glancing at his finger. Thank god that thing didn't have teeth, it might've chopped the tip of his fingers off completely. Now it hadn't really even hurt, it was just the shock that had made his heart beat like this.

"I'm not a slimeball." The sound was groggy and low, and definitely inhuman.

Sasuke had never heard anything quite like it, and his eyes darted around the clearing for a moment, looking for the source of the voice until his eyes settled back to the frog. The prince blinked, twice, and then blinked again.  
"Excuse me?"

The very ugly green, totally slime-looking creature hopped forward, and Sasuke had a sudden urge to scramble backwards.

"Yeah. I'm not slimy. And stop poking me, fancypants, you should be grateful. I brought the ball up for you!"

Now this was getting ridiculous. Sasuke was being insulted by a talking frog? That couldn't be real. Not that he had never heard of talking animals, in their kingdom where magic was happening yet not very encouraged there were such things, but he'd never seen one with his own eyes. And now the first one he met was being rude to him.

"How do you dare to insult me, creature?" the raven hissed, finally pushing himself off the ground to save his crumbled pride.

"Because you insulted me first! I can speak to you like I want to, I'm the-" And then it looked like the frog's mouth was suddenly glued shut and it started mumbling something like crazy, its oddly bright blue eyes bulging like they were going to fall out of the its head.

Sasuke just stared at the frog, and then took a couple of slow, almost hesitant steps.

"What are you?" he asked, still holding the ball in his hand. For some reason, it felt like it was growing colder in his hand.

The frog frowned, or at least Sasuke thought it did.

"I just told you. I'm prmnmnnngghh." Again, the animal's mouth stuck and it continued mumbling for a good while, the angry tone making it sound as though it was trying to get out some inappropriate words.

"Uh, sure", Sasuke murmured after a while, watching the frog in confusion.

"Yeah. Name's Naruto." The frog had finally gotten its mouth open again and it hopped forward until it was on the ground right in front of Sasuke.  
"You're a prince, right?"

Sasuke nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Suddenly the frog looked very pleased with himself.

"Good. Now kiss me."

Instead of a kiss, the slimy animal got strong enough a kick to send it flying back to the pond. And with that, Sasuke was gone from the clearing and rushing back to the castle, clutching the glass ball in his hand.

/_But the prince found it impossible to forget about the frog. Night after night he kept taking out the glass ball from under his pillow and staring at the faint glow of the swirling water, and with the water went his head, or so the prince __felt. It was almost like the ball was calling him back to the pond and the lousy frog. And one night, the young prince couldn't take it any longer. He got up and tiptoed out of the castle and back to the pond to find the frog. The frog was there, and he was there the next night as well, and the next too. After the first night, the prince found himself at the pond almost every night, enjoying the brisk night air and the surprisingly pleasant company of the frog._

_During all his life, the prince had never met anyone quite as bold, quite as real as the frog. The animal was loud and foulmouthed, but it was also very smart and it knew when to keep silent and let the prince talk. All in all, the frog was the most enjoyable company Sasuke could've imagined, save for the fact that he was tiny and green. _

_An entire month passed, and almost every night Sasuke went to the pond to see the frog. He didn't found it weird at all how comfortable he felt with the animal, in fact the frog was the closest thing to a real friend the prince had ever had. But one night, when a full moon was casting shadows over the little pond, happened something that changed everything._

"Oh, come on, Sasuke, kiss me! Just one little kiss, it's not going to kill you!" The frog was bouncing up and down on the prince's knee, its face twisted into something that the prince thought might be a pout.

"But I don't want to kiss you", Sasuke argued, seriously considering swiping the consistent frog off him. The creature had been demanding him to kiss it since they day they had met, and it had never given up. It had also refused to tell the prince why the kiss was so important, and being just as stubborn Sasuke had refused to give it the desired kiss.

"I'm not even poisonous!" Naruto snapped, hopping from Sasuke's knee to his thigh. The big blue eyes were staring demandingly at the prince, but the almost human impression was broken by the loud croak the animal let out.  
"Oops."

Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly and rolled his eyes, poking the frog on the back.  
"I know you're not, but that's no reason to kiss you. I just don't see any reason to kiss something as slimy as you."

"I'm not slimy!" the frog interjected angrily and then huffed, flattening itself on Sasuke's thigh.  
"Just one little kiss, and then I'll never bother you about it, okay?"

"No."

"Sasuke! Please!"

"I said no!"

"Fine! Just because you're too much of a coward to kiss one frog I'm gonna find someone else who's not!"

But strong hands caught Naruto in the middle of a leap that had meant to take him back to the ground, and suddenly the frog found itself quite close to the prince's face, the dark eyes flaming as they stared at him.

"A coward?" Sasuke hissed, blood boiling in his veins.  
"Take that back!"

Naruto blinked his bulking eyes and then, as the realization set in, his lips stretched into a mockery of a sly grin.  
"Coward."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and despite knowing that he was being led on, he squeezed the frog a little harder than necessary, making Naruto croak in displeasure.  
"Take it back."

The frog did something that resembled coughing and then croaked again.  
"Never, oh prince fancypants."

The raven had had enough. After squeezing the frog in warning one more time he made his decision. The dark eyes were shut tight as the man brought the frog closer to his face and pressed his lips on the frog's, the slimy feeling making him momentarily want to throw up.

And suddenly he was pinned to the ground, something very heavy lying on the top of him. His hands weren't holding the frog anymore, they were wrapped around something that felt very solid and definitely not slimy, and the lips against his were soft and warm, not like the frog's at all. There was something light and fluffy in front of his eyes and it took him a moment of shocked staring to identify it as hair, and after the person on the top of him had let out a very croak-like groan, Sasuke found himself staring into the eyes of brightest blue he had ever seen.

For a couple of seconds he just stared, feeling almost hypnotized by those eyes, but then the situation sank in and he let out a tiny shocked yelp and practically threw the man off of him, crawling away. He probably had pushed a little harder than necessary because the stranger went rolling to the pond, unable to stop himself, and the smile on his face changed into a look of disgust.

"You bastard!" the blond-haired man growled from the pond, glaring at Sasuke with those eyes that almost looked like they were changing color into a lot darker shade of blue.

Sasuke could do nothing but to stare still. The stranger had managed to splash himself rather wet in the great two inches of water that the pond had so close to the shore, and now he was just sitting there and glaring at Sasuke with water dripping from his hair. The said hair was quite interestingly colored, it was almost pure golden blond but when Sasuke looked closer and the light hit it right, there was a clearl green shade to it.

That being said, that man was probably one of the most handsome men he had ever seen in his entire life. And he was naked.

"Are you just gonna stare?"

The snarled words shook Sasuke out of the daze and he glared right back at the man in the pond.

"Where did you come from?"

"You kissed me, you idiot! You changed me back!" The blonde looked almost offended, but slowly he started to climb out of the water, and Sasuke found it very hard to keep his eyes away from the very bare, very toned and very wet body that slowly crawled closer to him.

A deep frown crossed Sasuke's face and he forced himself to tear his eyes away from the stranger's rippling muscles. He was confused, more so than he'd ever been in his life, and suddenly he felt a tiny bit dizzy.

"Changed you back?" he repeated dumbly, blinking and scrambling up as the naked man just kept getting closer.

"What are you talking about? And where's Naruto?"

The blonde let out an exasperated sigh and then rolled his eyes, giving Sasuke a look that clearly told that he hadn't believed the prince would be this stupid.

"Seriously, Sasuke... If I just hadn't spent every night of the last month with you I'd think you're somehow slow in the head", he grumbled and shook his head, drops of water scattering all around him as they fell from the golden strands of hair.

The blue eyes opened again and it suddenly struck Sasuke as he was captured by the most brilliant shade of blue he had ever seen. It was like the sky except brighter and more captivating, and most of all it reminded Sasuke of the eyes of Naruto the frog. Changed him back, the man in front of him had said, and he connected the dots in a flash, fighting down a blush as it tried to invade his cheeks.

"You _are_ Naruto", the prince murmured, feeling strangely fascinated.

The man, _Naruto_, rolled his eyes and then nodded, standing up in front of Sasuke.  
"Took you long enough." He ran his fingers through his hair and flashed a dazzling smile at Sasuke.

That smile made the prince immediately forget the annoying fact that Naruto was actually taller than he himself, although only by an inch or so.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded stubbornly, feeling still rather stupid. If Naruto had just told him that he was a human to begin with, they wouldn't have had to go through all the little quarrels about the kiss.

Naruto snorted and nothing but hopped forward, his face turning red afterwards. The froggy habits apparently stuck.  
"I couldn't. The curse that changed me doesn't allow me to speak about it."

A frown crossed Sasuke's face.  
"Doesn't? Do you mean it hasn't lifted yet?"

The smile fell from Naruto's face and he glanced at the pond before taking another hop towards Sasuke.

"No. I won't stay in this form until I find the piece of my soul that the witch stole when she cursed me." The look in the brilliant blue eyes turned sad and Sasuke had a sudden urge to comfort the man.

The raven didn't move though, he just took in Naruto's new face and then arched a brow.

"Piece of your soul? How are you supposed to find it?" he asked doubtfully, trying to resist the urge to touch the man in front of him, just to see if his skin was as soft as it looked like.

"I don't know. I might never, and that's how she wanted it." Naruto gave it a tiny smile and then rubbed his neck, an embarrassed grin crossing his face.

"Uh, and... I apologize for my current state of undress. I didn't really mean to appear in front of you like this."

Sasuke blinked at the surprising change of subject, and it didn't go past him why Naruto had chosen to go that way. The man obviously wasn't willing to talk about the curse or the witch that had brought it upon him, and for now the raven was willing to let it go.

"Apology accepted."

They fell into a silence for a moment, the dark eyes observing the blue ones. Sasuke actually found the silence easier than talking, because he still found it odd how the frog he'd been talking to over a month now had suddenly become a very handsome young man, and hearing him talk with a voice that was so different to the one he'd had as a frog freaked him out a little.

Yet finally it was Sasuke still who ended the silence.

"What now?" he asked shortly after glancing at the sky. It was already getting lighter and he'd have to get back to the castle soon so no-one would notice his absence.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'll stay here, of course, and you'll keep visiting me just like before."

_And that was exactly what the prince did. Every night after that he went to the pond, and even if the frog didn't get to keep its human form but an hour after the kiss, the prince soon began to realize that the light-haired young man was appealing in more than one way. He often caught himself smiling when he was at the pond, and soon, every time he gave the frog the kiss to change him to back to his true form, the prince found himself longing for more. He stayed holding the man after the transform for first a second, then for two, and to his delight the man seemed eager to respond to this kind of behavior. _

_Days turned into weeks, and soon another month had passed since the prince had first given the frog the longed kiss. Their kisses turned longer and more intimate, and the prince had to admit he enjoyed laying on the ground on the frog man's arms a lot more than he enjoyed his own soft bed in the castle. He didn't find it anything unusual though, not before one kiss that had very unexpected consequences._

"Do that again", Sasuke demanded with breathy voice, his lips brushing against Naruto's. He was lying on his back on the grass that was wet with night dew, Naruto's heavy body holding him still as the man lay on the top of him, his hands buried in Sasuke's hair.

The blonde grinned softly down at him, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he slowly rolled his hips against Sasuke's, nudging the raven's legs apart even more to get some space. He pressed his lips on Sasuke's again, sucking a moan out of the prince, and then tightened his hold of the raven hair. Sasuke's hands were running up and down his bare back and truth to be told, Naruto was just waiting for him to start dragging his nails down his skin. That's was pretty much all he could be thinking about though, the pleasure radiating from his groin effectively clouding his mind.

Sasuke pushed his hips up against Naruto's, his back arching as he felt the blonde's bare arousal pressing against his thigh. His own one was already straining against the clothing and he felt heat flushing his cheeks as he caught the look in Naruto's eyes, the desire swirling unclouded in those beautiful blue depths. He couldn't remember ever feeling like this before, he sure had had his share of night-time encounters with the maids and the servants of the castle and he was nothing like ignorant of how things worked even between two men, but not even once had he felt this aroused, this _alive_ because of another person's touch. There had been excitement, fear of getting caught, pleasure, but never anything like the fire that seemed to burst under his skin every time Naruto touched him. It was crazy, and it was driving him out of his mind, and that feeling alone was scary. Naruto was just a frog from the pond, not someone he could bring to the castle to show to his parents, and he was getting so into these little moments by the pond that he wasn't sure how to handle them yet at the same time he couldn't bring himself to end it here.

And besides, the pleasure was too much for him to stop now.

Naruto's hips were grinding against him, dragging small moans from Sasuke's lips, and it was hard to think about anything. Sasuke tried though, he tugged Naruto's hair a little, and as the friction on his crotch area immediately eased he let out a disappointed whimper. He had to do this though, and with lots of effort he removed one hand from Naruto's back to slide it between their bodies.

"The pants", he murmured hastily, starting to yank them off with one hand. He was somewhat distracted by Naruto's mouth on his neck and he had to hiss a quick "No marks!" as he felt teeth gracing against his skin. Sneaking out of the castle during the night time was one thing, but having obnoxious bruises on his neck could not be explained. Sasuke pressed his hand on Naruto's chest and pushed firmly, barely making the blonde pull off long enough for the prince to get out of his pants. It left him with the underpants though, but he wasn't going to let go of them just yet.

Naruto let out a low groan, running his hand over Sasuke's clothed arousal. The raven's hips bucked up into the touch and Naruto chuckled breathlessly, leaning down to kiss the prince. Feeling Sasuke respond as eagerly as he did was making Naruto's heart pound like crazy, almost as though it was going to jump out of his chest and that was what made him the most nervous. Nothing of it was showing though, but there was also a growing feeling of guilt that ruined it for him a little. He pushed it back though, letting himself get lost in the kiss, and hoped that it would be enough for Sasuke as well.

And apparently the goddess of luck was on his side tonight because Sasuke groaned into the kiss, the dark eyes fluttering shut and the slim hips rising off the ground to meet Naruto's again. The long slender fingers wound into Naruto's hair, yanking roughly, and the frog man let out a surprised yelp as Sasuke suddenly rolled them over, the wet grass meeting Naruto's back. The blonde shivered, but it was more excitement than anything else, and then his competitiveness kicked in. He wasn't going to let a pansy like this prince get the best of him. A low growl escaped his lips and he rolled them over again, grabbing Sasuke's hands and pinning them above the raven's head. He ran his hand down the prince's chest, pinching a hardened nipple and enjoying the way Sasuke arched into the touch. Naruto rolled the nub under this thumb, enjoying the way the other man was clearly losing it.

That damned hand was clouding Sasuke's mind to the point where he couldn't exactly remember what he was doing or what he had been about to do next. He was sure he hadn't meant to end up on his back again but there he was, his body reacting to Naruto's advances a bit too strongly.  
"Hurry up, dobe", the prince snarled, grabbing Naruto's hair again and accidentally yanking some of it out in his haste.  
"Touch me." He wasn't resorting to begging, of course not, but giving orders ran in his blood.

Naruto just chuckled, but apparently he didn't mind the orders all that much because without another word the tanned hand slid into Sasuke's underpants and the fingers wrapped around the prince's weeping member and started stroking it with slow movements. Another snarl left the raven's lips and then he was thrusting into Naruto's hand, just trying to get off. The touch felt good, so damn good, but he wasn't seeking the pleasure just yet.

"In a hurry?" Naruto drawled, running his thumb over the head of Sasuke's cock and sweeping off the bead of pre-cum. He let go of the swollen organ for long enough to yank Sasuke's underpants a bit lower, the erection jumping out merrily and making the blond chuckle a bit. The vicious glare from Sasuke didn't really make him any less amused by the situation, but he complied anyway and returned his attention to the hard cock in front of him, just begging for him to touch it. The frog man knew where this was going and he definitely wasn't hesitating with it, no matter how complicated it might get afterwards.

Sasuke didn't have the time to bite down to his lip and a series of very inappropriate words escaped his lips as the cold air suddenly enveloped his cock, the relief of not . After that he clamped his mouth shut tight, refusing to let out even the slightest of moans no matter how sinfully good the touch felt on his skin. His thighs were shaking as he thrust up into Naruto's hand, still glaring at the blonde and feeling very pissed at the said man when the only reaction he got was laughter.

"Hurry up, idiot!" Sasuke snapped and then immediately closed his eyes as Naruto's fingers graced over his balls, fondling them a little before moving a bit lower, rubbing the skin between the raven's anus and his sack. A deep groan escaped Sasuke's lips and he almost swore again, wishing that Naruto would just stop the torture and get on to the real thing. Being teased like this was not what he was used to, he was usually the one in control and this was just as annoying as it was pleasurable. Losing control was not something Sasuke was ready for quite yet.

Naruto grinned at him again, lust swirling in the darkened blue eyes, and without another word he wrapped his fingers around Sasuke's arousal and started pumping it in a fast rhythm. His eyes never left Sasuke's face, even when the prince let out another low groan and his neck arched, the midnight eyes fluttering shut from pleasure. The blonde suddenly found it hard to keep from doing more than just stroking his lover like this, the raven was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and it was so unexpected, to meet him in a place such as this. He had never thought that the stupid curse could bring something good his way, but if it meant that he could have the proud prince writhing under him like this again, he would stay a few more years as a frog for sure.

Another shaky moan tore from Sasuke's throat and Naruto felt the man tensing underneath him. The blonde had barely enough time to cup his hand over the head of Sasuke's cock before strings of cum erupted from it, the raven rocking his hips into Naruto's waiting hand. When Sasuke finally sagged against the ground, the blonde slathered the semen over his own arousal, spitting into his hand and adding it on himself to make sure he would be slick enough.

Feeling a set of eyes on him, Naruto glanced up to meet Sasuke's firm, curious case. The raven was watching him intently, and as a cocky grin slowly slid to Naruto's face he nudged Sasuke's legs a little and slid between them. The head of his erection slid along the prince's crack and he reached to grab the man's cock again, giving it a few firm strokes. It was fascinating, to watch the intense look on Sasuke's face to change to one of pleasure, and it made the blonde crave more. Letting go of the swollen organ the man hooked his elbows behind Sasuke's knees and pushed hard enough to to lift the raven's hips off the ground.

Preparing? There was no need for that. With the grin still on his face, Naruto thrust in, slowly enough to make sure it would be pleasant for the prince as well. To him, it was heaven. Being a frog hadn't really given him any way to have some sexual relief and being around Sasuke sure hadn't helped, and now he finally had a chance to do this, to be in that beautiful tight body that had been tempting him for a long time now. Going slowly was just so hard.

Sasuke groaned, pushing his hips up to meet Naruto's, trying to get the man deeper. He hadn't done this in a while and his body was craving for more, to feel Naruto's hands on him again.  
"Why are you so damn slow?" he snarled, reaching up to grab Naruto's hair to pull him down for a hungry kiss. He knew that would get Naruto to work faster, the man never failed to rise to a challenge.

And the blonde definitely didn't disappoint.

_That night, there was magic in the air. The sky was clear and the stars shone on the them, and it was as though even the moon peeked from behind the rippled clouds to take a look at their happiness. The prince left late that night, the sun was already peeking at the horizon as he arrived at the castle and tiptoed to his room, avoiding the servants that were already running through the corridors. He didn't sleep a bit though, and after that the prince went through his days waiting for the night when he could sneak out and head to see his secret lover. _

_The prince had never been so happy in his entire life. For the first time he could ignore the way his father was treating him, he was able to let his brother's insult pass his ears, and most importantly, the long boring days in the castle didn't mean anything to him. The prince had a reason to keep going, a reason to live. _

_But sometimes even in fairytales the roses you're dancing on have thorns. _

_What the prince didn't know was that there was a snake in his little paradise. In the heart of the crown prince of the Fire Kingdom lived something dark and malicious, and he had long ago started acting on those urges. From his father he had received a present, a rare blue fish that the king had brought from a faraway land, and he had been told that the fish would grow bigger than any other fish in the Fire Kingdom. Therefore a little aquarium in a castle wouldn't have been enough for it, and the crown prince had remembered a beautiful pond in the castle grounds, a pond that no-one visited anymore. He had taken the fish there, and within time the fish had started to grow. _

_When the frog had arrived at the pond, the fish was already big enough to swallow it as a whole, but because the fish was lazy and liked being alone, it mostly remained sleeping at the bottom of the pond, hiding in water grass where the frog never came. It didn't like the frog, but it was too lazy to do anything about it. The crown prince hadn't visited the fish in a long while and it was content remaining in its slumber, until the day the younger prince came to the pond for the first time and spoke to the frog._

_The fish noticed that something was going on with the frog and the prince, and it kept watching the two of them, hoping to see its master soon. He was sure the crown prince would be interested in knowing what was going on at the pond, and the fish was eager to see the consequences._

_Finally, after a time that had felt so long to the fish, the crown prince finally came to the pond. It was daytime and the frog was sleeping as the fish told its master about the nightly encounters and the inappropriate bodily activities it had been forced to witness. The crown prince thanked his pet for the information and left the pond, telling the fish to keep an eye on the two. As he walked away from the pond, however, the crown prince was already weaving a malicious plan for his foolish younger brother and the daring frog._

That morning the valet found Sasuke awake and grumpy in his room, staring out of his window at the little forest on the castle grounds. The raven refused to answer any of the man's question, and finally the servant came into conclusion that the prince had had some very unpleasant dreams that he wasn't comfortable talking about and let it be.

That was wise of him, because no matter how pissed off Sasuke looked like, it was worse in the inside. Disappointment and anger were welling up in him, fighting with the reasonable excuses he was trying to come up with to explain why Naruto hadn't been at the pond that night. There hadn't been a night without them seeing each other and taking what they could only find in each other's bodies after the first time, and it wasn't hard for the prince to admit that he was furious. Not so much because Naruto had disappeared for a night, but because the man hadn't warned him in advance. It was so inconsiderate of him, and he couldn't even blame it on bad manners because no matter how coarse and daring the blonde sometimes was, he could be a real gentleman when he wanted to.

Naturally, Sasuke was disappointed. And when he was disappointed, everyone else was to suffer from it.

That irritable attitude didn't go anywhere as the hours passed, and by the time he was called to a dinner with his brother the prince was so close to shocking everyone and flat out refusing to go, but in the end he gave in to his room servants demands and left for the dinner room. It wasn't often that they ate together after all, the princes were usually allowed to eat whenever and whatever they wanted to, while the king and the queen dined in privacy, and Sasuke wondered what was so important that he had been called to eat with his brother as well.

As he took his seat at the table, his brother was already there. At first it really seemed to be a nice and pretty normal dinner, but as soon as Itachi realized Sasuke was watching him, he gave his little brother a small smile that made Sasuke shiver. A look like that from Itachi never meant anything good.

They ate in silence, a new type of meat that Sasuke couldn't remember ever eating before and he only thought it was something his parents had found while visiting a neighboring countries or something. It was good if maybe a bit sticky but he ate, giving long glances at Itachi. There was something in his brother that night that told him something was wrong and that kept him on the edge, until the crown prince finally seemed to give up.. He turned to his little brother with a smile that could've been described as pleasant by anyone that didn't know him plastered on his face as he arched his eyebrows.

"Did you enjoy the meal?" Itachi asked pleasantly before sipping his wine.

A frown crossed Sasuke's face, his senses immediately alerting him of something being definitely wrong. Itachi wasn't the type to act polite, not to him, and he certainly never bothered asking Sasuke's opinion about anything. The younger raven took a moment to ponder his reply, silently thanking a servant for the distraction the man provided by appearing and asking if they wanted anything. Itachi declared the offer immediately, but the little moment was enough to give Sasuke the time to make his decision.

Slowly, he nodded while eying his brother warily.  
"I have never tasted meat like that. Is it something from abroad?"

The way Itachi's eyes flashed was unnerving to say the least, and the man leaned over the table towards Sasuke's, watching the younger man intently.  
"No, not quite... It's more like local", he explained vaguely, running his gaze over Sasuke's empty plate.

"Local?" That didn't sound good at all, and Sasuke could feel a hint of nausea approaching.

Itachi nodded calmly and then smiled again, waiting for the servants to come and fill his cup.  
"Yes. Frog thighs, from our very own pond, the one in that little forest. I'm sure you remember the place."

At that, Sasuke's stomach flipped and he stood up rapidly enough to make his chair fall over, nausea welling up inside him. The pleased, almost delighted look on Itachi's face was making him feel even worse, he knew that the man was aware of what he'd done. It just confirmed what he'd always known, that his brother was a sick bastard who played with other people. And after giving the older man a furious glare Sasuke stormed out of the room and the whole castle. He desperately needed fresh air. It was all that went through his head as he ran out as far as he could, not wanting to throw up on the floor.

He had barely made it out of the building when he doubled over and emptied his stomach, unexplainable pain welling up inside him. The prince couldn't believe it, he just couldn't, it was too sick to be true. He took a few shaky steps away from the stone wall of the castle, and when his legs felt strong enough to carry him he sprinted forward, running to the small forest without caring if anyone saw him. Itachi knew already, though he couldn't understand how, and there was no-one else that cared.

Sasuke had to stop twice on his way to the pond as waves of nausea hit him again and again until there was nothing for him to throw up anymore. His body felt weak and sick as he finally dropped to the ground by the pond on his knees, the disgusting taste in his mouth making it feel so much more real. He just felt so sick, so damn sick.

"Naruto?" he tried, but even as the word left his lips he knew he wouldn't be getting an answer. Yet he tried again, waiting for a long while to hear the frog speaking to him, but there was nothing. Only birds were singing in the trees and a lonely grasshopper cried softly in the grass. It felt as though time itself had stopped to listen, waiting for the one voice the prince was so desperate to hear.

But it never came.

Minutes slipped by, turning into hours, and by every ticking second a numb feeling kept spreading through Sasuke as he stood by the pond, staring into the calm water. The clearing was still so beautiful, everything around the pond looked so perfect like god itself had put everything in its place to create a secret place for people like the prince and his lover. That thought stung now, and Sasuke found himself gripping the front of his shirt hard, almost tearing the fabric. Nausea churned in his stomach and he took a deep breath, fighting the urge to vomit; there was nothing in him to throw up anymore, and he didn't want to end up gagging on the grass.

No-one came for him. Sasuke stood still in the silent forest for a long time, the sun going down and disappearing behind the trees until there were only shadows left. Stars were slowly appearing on the dark sky and moon glowed softly on the sky when the raven finally turned his back to the pond. It was too hard to see the place like this, it was exactly like it had been two nights ago when he had last seen Naruto there. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Sasuke forced his legs to move, to take him away from the pond, and desperately wished that all this could be just bad dream. He knew it wasn't, but it didn't stop him from hoping. It was something he had learned from Naruto during the time they had been together; never stop hoping.

And so Sasuke didn't, determination keeping the little flame of light alive inside him as he headed back to the castle, something inside him trying to get him to turn around and run back to the pond. It was night already, he shouldn't be going this way, it was wrong... It was so wrong, he should've been running to Naruto, and no matter how many times Sasuke told himself Naruto wouldn't be there, it was hard to break the habit. His steps got slower and more reluctant until he eventually stopped, the castle finally in the view.

It looked so cold and so lonely, the silhouette of the building drawn against the dark sky, and suddenly Sasuke didn't feel like going in at all. He wasn't tired and he didn't want to go to bed since he knew he would only dream about Naruto and he wasn't sure if he could take it. He was sure Itachi would be in his face tomorrow, trying to act a concerned brother and ask him what was wrong and why he had left from the meal like that, and he wanted nothing more than to stay away from his bastard of a brother. It was too cruel and Sasuke couldn't for the life of him understand why Itachi had done that. It was just too perfect to be an accident, there was no way his brother had just felt like eating frog after all these years of never even mentioning the possibility of eating those tiny animals, and even through the gratefully accepted numbness sparked a small flame of hatred, stealing all the air from the flickering flame of hope and drowning it. He would never forgive Itachi for this.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Took me longer than I expected u_u School likes to suck my energy out... But here it is, finally, and I hope you'll enjoy this final chapter ~ 8)

* * *

**Part 2**

"Your... Your Highness?" A young wench had almost dropped her grain bucket from the shock, her eyes wide as she stared at the prince.

The young man was sitting on the ground, staring at the castle with bloodshot eyes. He had dark bags under his eyes and his clothes reeked of vomit and dirt, and he would've looked like a homeless person had he not still had the aura of a noble man around him. He did not react to the maid's words, he didn't even blink as the woman tried again, his glazed eyes still fixed on the building.

After a moment the maid gave up and left to feed the chicken like she was supposed to, silently hoping that whatever was wrong with the prince would go away soon and the man would pull himself together before his parents woke up. And if it didn't, she wished there would be someone else to take care of the prince, she wouldn't dare to touch him if only to help him back inside.

_But her wishes were not granted. Throughout the day, numerous servants and other people living in the castle came to see the prince, some trying to talk the prince into coming inside or at least to eat something, but the prince refused them both. It was only when the sun was already going down that the king decided to take notice on what was happening on his castle's grounds. People were talking already and the king was worried about the reputation of his family, and so he decided to send his most trusted man down to the court to get the young prince stop his foolish act._

_And who would the king trust the most if not his own flesh and blood? He summoned the crown prince to him and told him to go put an end on the younger prince's foolishness. The crown prince nodded quietly, but as he turned away from the king a cruel smile marred his face. He couldn't imagine a task more entertaining, and with the last rays of light licking the ground the prince stepped outside. The crown prince knew where his brother was sitting for he had been watching him from the windows throughout the day and enjoying the suffering the younger prince was clearly going through. _

Itachi couldn't help feeling quite smug as he walked towards the forest and the spot his pathetic brother was still sitting at. The day had been quite enjoyable for him, he had even visited Kisame to tell him what had happened the day before and they had laughed together at Sasuke's foolishness. It was stupid, really, how attached his useless brother had grown to the frog man, and deep inside Itachi did believe he had just done Sasuke a favor. It was better if he didn't get too attached to anyone at this point when he would have to marry later anyway, and his spouse could never be a frog from the pond.

A smirk was still paying on Itachi's lips as he finally found his brother and stopped in front of him. He knew there were people outside watching him and even more at the windows, despite the sun that had gone down already there was still enough light for them to keep a curious eye on the scene that he knew was to follow soon enough.

To be honest, he was quite surprised that Sasuke hadn't lashed out at him already; the younger man hadn't even lifted his head. Had he been anyone else Itachi might've been worried, but it didn't really suit him to worry about anyone but himself and he did very little of the latter either.

"Time to stop being dramatic, little brother", he suggested nonchalantly, watching Sasuke with a bored look on his face. It wasn't like he really wanted to be here other than to inwardly laugh at his idiotic brother, and the faster he got over with this the better.

Slowly a pair of empty dark eyes rose and turned up to look at the crown prince but their owner still didn't move. It looked almost as if Sasuke had frozen to the spot, like he was only a statue forgotten outside, and he was showing no signs of even being alive as Itachi kept his eyes on him, wondering what he would have to do to get Sasuke to snap out of it.

"Father wants you back inside."

It was silent for a moment, the cicadas crying in the night and a sound of a few last birds singing somewhere in the forest being the only brave notes that broke through the heavy silence on the castle yard. The two brothers were staring at each other, neither of them moving, and the moon painted them with blue and silver, giving them an eerie glow as everyone held their breath and waited for something to happen.

Finally a cold smirk stretched the younger prince's lips and he shifted, pulling his legs to a position that would let him get up faster.

"Why? Am I causing too much gossiping?" he asked with an empty voice that shouldn't belong to anyone as young as him. The only ones with voice like that were those that had lost everything in their lives to war or plague or other unfortunate events, it should have never been heard from the beautiful young prince's lips. Yet there it was, cold and evident and apparently not shaking even Sasuke's brother.

Itachi nodded slowly and fought the urge to shrug. Inwardly he was still celebrating, but he was also starting to get a little annoyed at Sasuke creating so much drama. It had been just one frog.

"Yes", he answered his brother's question with honest yet impassive voice, "and you'd better start obeying."

Something dangerous flashed in the pitch black eyes before Sasuke spoke, and this time his voice wasn't empty anymore; there was hatred curling around his words, filling them and giving them strength as he pushed himself up from the ground, ignoring the protests of his stiff muscles.

"I wouldn't have a reason to be here if it wasn't for you." His gaze was torn from Itachi's face to check the people watching them. None of them were too close and the dark swirl of hatred was burning inside him with a larger flame than he had expected...

The older man snorted dismissively.  
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic. It was just a frog!"

Those were the words that finally broke Sasuke out of the numb haze he had lulled himself into. He might've been able to take Itachi making fun of him, laughing at him, even telling him how stupid he was being, but badmouthing Naruto was something he would never in his life allow. Naruto had been more than 'just a frog' and while he knew Itachi was just trying to make him angry he couldn't help the surge of rage that spiraled through his mind, sending his body to move until it was suddenly stopped by Itachi's weight as he crashed against his brother. They ended up on the ground, the older prince looking slightly stunned as he lay still staring up at his little brother while Sasuke had his fingers firmly wrapped around Itachi's throat. He was definitely taking advantage of the moment he had with Itachi being still too surprised to move.

He leaned down to speak, and for the first time in a long while Itachi felt worry pinch him. The gleam in Sasuke's eyes wasn't exactly sane.  
"After the dinner was over, when I went to the pond... I swore by that pond that I would kill you, Itachi... Your life for his", Sasuke growled, his fingers digging into his brother's skin.

"And now-" The low threat turned into a surprised yelp as strong arms were suddenly jerking Sasuke back, pulling him away from the gasping crown prince. Someone was helping Itachi up while two guards held Sasuke back, and the raven went quiet for a few seconds before lashing out again, fighting the men that were holding him. He trashed and growled, trying to break free from their hold but nothing worked; he wasn't strong enough.

"How could you do it?" The words were half yelled and Sasuke's chest was heaving as he still struggled against the men holding him, his hands clenched into tight fists. Itachi was still so close and the raven craved to go and ram his fist into Itachi's face to wipe off that smug smirk.

"Why, little brother, I'd do anything to help you.."

"How did eating him help me?" the volume was rising, and by his next words Sasuke was already shouting while his brother slowly walked away from him.  
"You sick bastard! How could you? He was a human, for God's sake! You can't just do that!

But Itachi wasn't listening. His back kept moving father and farther away and Sasuke let out a frustrated growl, throwing himself against one of the men holding him back.

"I'm going to kill you! You hear me? I'll kill you!"

_For a long time after that night the servants and even commoners in the town that surrounded the castle wouldn't stop talking about the incident that had made the young prince lose his mind. He had attacked the crown prince like a demon had taken over his body and later some would swear they had seen the prince's eyes turn red. The stories grew by every teller and soon enough there would be ten soldiers holding the crazy prince back and the crown prince had been escorted to his chambers by half of the army to make sure he was safe. _

_During the following night the prince was forced to face the life of a prisoner. He was locked up for the night, the king wanting to make sure no harm would come on his precious crown prince and the younger prince was left alone, his anger flaming inside him but finally dying as the first rays of light reached the window of his prison. The prince wasn't familiar with his surroundings and after a while he gave up trying. When the night turned into a day the prince fell into broken sleep, his dreams revolving around a frog that was no more and a brother that had betrayed him in the worst possible way. _

_Two days the prince was held in his prison and during that time no living soul came to visit him, save for the guard bringing him food. He truly was treated like a criminal but to the prince it didn't matter. He didn't care where he was as long as he was alone and no-one would make him talk about Naruto.  
_

The heavy door slammed shut behind the crushed prince and Sasuke leaned his back against it, closing his eyes and pressing his hand over them, trying to calm down his racing thoughts. For two days he had been kept in the bare room, but finally someone had let him out, telling him that his father he told them to release him. At first Sasuke had thought of getting back to the pond but the idea had been buried, for a simple reason. He really couldn't do it anymore, and after seeing Itachi smirk at him earlier the day the raven had realized how much satisfaction he was giving to his older brother which was something he had never wanted to happen. Coming to his room had seemed to be the most reasonable choice, and it also had something to do with the fact that his father had sent a word to him, telling him that he should behave from now on.

Being in his room again didn't feel as bad as he had thought it would, save for the stuffy air in his room and the walls that felt somehow suffocating. The prince didn't want to be there, but as he had no choice he finally took a deep breath and then released the air as a deep sigh, hating the helpless feeling filling him. He didn't know what to do, the ache in his chest was still too fresh and to be honest, all he wanted to do was to curl up and pretend he was dead. It felt like someone had pried his heart out of his chest, chopped away half of it and then placed it back, leaving it incomplete and longing. Without Naruto there to wait for him every night, Sasuke wasn't sure why he even wanted to live.

Oh, it was even starting to get annoying. That sounded so petty and so poetical, and while Sasuke had never believed in the love that the bards sang about, he was about to admit that there had to be cases when those romantic tales were close to reality. He hated sounding like that himself, he was acting almost like a hero from a tragic tale about lost love but he couldn't help it. Groaning irritably the raven finally pushed himself away from the wooden door and forced his eyes open. He made his way to his bed, silently thanking the maids for how clean and comfortable it still looked even after having been ignored for the whole two days, and without bothering to take away his clothes he flopped on the bed face down and crawled on it more comfortably, burying his face to the soft down pillow.

"OW!"

The sudden croak made Sasuke almost jump out of his skin and he scampered backwards, staring at his pillow with shock written all over his face. His eyes were wide as he tried to listen, desperate to hear the exclamation again. It had been... He was going crazy, that had to be it. So many songs told about young lovers losing their mind when they lost their love, and there was no doubt that was happening to the raven-haired prince at the very moment as well.

His pillow had just talked to him. Or more like croaked, and that made it all the more creepy. But the worst thing wasn't the talking but the voice the pillow had. It had been Naruto's voice, the same voice the frog had used when talking to him, everything had been there. If Sasuke closed his eyes, he could almost see Naruto saying 'ow!' just like that, glaring at him with his huge frog eyes before he leaned closer and kissed the animal to turn it back to the gorgeous man. It had sounded so real that Sasuke almost believed for a second that some kind of miracle had happened and Naruto hadn't died after all, but then reality set in as the silence stretched on and no other sound was heard.

With disappointment welling up inside him Sasuke kept his eyes shut and clenched his fists, trying to fight back the desperation that was trying to take over.

But when he finally opened his eyes again, his pillow wasn't alone. There, in the middle of it, sat a very familiar green yet not-so-slimy frog, staring back at Sasuke with annoyed blue eyes that were so familiar that the prince actually froze for a moment, unable to even breathe anymore.

"Why did you hit me? You almost flattened me, you jerk!" the frog snapped with an angry voice, the blue eyes rolling furiously before th animal hopped forward off the pillow, leaving a deep imprint on it.  
"And what took you so long? I've been waiting here for three cursed days, mind you! Did he hold you captive or something, that psycho brother of yours?"

The words slid right past Sasuke, only the voice holding his attention as he watched the frog, mixed emotions coursing through him and being so overwhelming that he wasn't so sure what he was feeling in the end. Naruto was alive? Truly, honestly alive? Afraid to believe anything just yet, the raven reached forward and gently pressed the tip of his index finger to the animals side, earning an extremely pissed off croak from the frog.

"Still poking me, bastard? I told you to stop ages ago! And why the hell are you st- oomph!" The furious monologue was suddenly interrupted as a pair of pale hands lifted the frog in the air and it wasn't given a chance to finish its sentence before the prince pressed a firm kiss on the frog's mouth, sealing it effectively.

There was a light popping sound and suddenly Sasuke had his arms full of a grown man instead of a tiny frog. His hands were cupping Naruto's cheeks and he was staring into the bright blue eyes that reflected surprise now along with the previous anger. The raven opened his mouth, attempting to say something but words failed him and he ended up just staring at Naruto for a while, his fingers pressing harder into the skin as though to make sure it was real and not just some kind of reflection of what he remembered of the man. He was still afraid he was truly going crazy, but it felt so _real_ now, with the warmth of Naruto's skin and the memorable scent that surrounded the man and the way he looked at the prince...

The anger had slowly started to vanish from the azure eyes and a tanned hand rose to press gently against Sasuke's cheek, a questioning look crossing Naruto's face as he leaned in closer.  
"Hey? What's wrong, princeling?" He sounded worried, and that was when Sasuke snapped.

With a furious growl, the raven shoved his lover to the bed, crawling on the top of him while his lips pressed firmly on Naruto's, capturing him into a rough desperate kiss. The man under him let out a surprised yelp, but after the shock had worn out Sasuke felt a hand grab his hair and he groaned, his tongue pushing into Naruto's mouth to greet his.

"You idiot", the older man growled between kisses, pressing Naruto down to the mattress with his body. He felt the strong body arching against his as he shifted, and he slid his fingers through the greenish blonde locks, refusing to let go or pull back.

"You goddamn idiot..." The clothes were on the way but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to pull back long enough to get rid of them. Naruto was naked and that had to be enough for now. And it was, as long as he could feel the man underneath him, hear his breathing and soft mewls that he sucked out of the blonde, taste his mouth... It was all so real, even when it shouldn't have been. Sasuke still couldn't understand how it was possible that Naruto was here, not when the man was meant to be inside his stomach -the thought made him pull back for a moment, to gather himself and fight down the nausea- instead of lying on his bed like he belonged there.

"Sasuke, what's-" And again, Naruto was cut off by a kiss that made his toes curl and his eyes cloud over with both desire worry, the desperation in it bringing some unwanted thoughts to his head as he tried to figure out what was going on. He would've asked but the way Sasuke was kissing him didn't give him much chances to even move, let alone speak, and for a while he was happy to leave it like that. The blonde wasn't afraid to admit that he had missed Sasuke too, although he already knew that if the raven got this upset every time they were a few days apart it might bring some trouble in the future. Somewhere in the back of his head there was this little voice though, a voice that told him the separation hadn't been the only problem, and after a moment Naruto slid his hands lower, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders and rolling them over.. Oh, it was good that the raven had a huge bed.

Sasuke found himself lying on his back, a very naked body pressing down against his, and concerned blue eyes peering down at him in a way that made something in his chest tighten unpleasantly.

"Sasuke, what's wrong? Tell me."

Such simple words, but to the prince who had believed he'd never hear his lover's voice again they meant everything. He kept his eyes locked on Naruto's, running his fingers through the blond hair before allowing his hands travel down the muscular back, enjoying the feeling of skin under his hands.

"I thought you were dead", Sasuke finally stated, his voice quiet and low, a strange almost choked feeling to it. He kept his hands on Naruto even when he felt the man above him tense up a little, and suddenly he wasn't on his back anymore but on his side, cradled to Naruto's chest with the strong arms around him, holding him close. For a moment the raven automatically thought of getting away from such a hold, his old habits kicking in for a second and telling him that it was childish, being coddled like this, and that he had never allowed any lover that he'd had in his bed hold him like that. It was the deep rumble in Naruto's chest and the way the arms tightened around him that made him finally relax again and he snuggled even closer, wrapping his arms around Naruto in return.

"Look, Sasuke..." The frog man's voice was low and soothing, as though he was talking to an upset animal instead of a shocked prince, and a hand started to slowly stroke Sasuke's back.  
"The thing is..."

_And while holding the prince in his arms the frog told him everything. It told the prince about the morning after the prince had left the pond and the frog had been left swimming around in depression. He was told how the men came to the pond, carrying nets and other things meant to help them with the hunt, and how the frog, wise as it was, had carefully jumped away from the pond and hidden next to the large tree. _

_From his hiding place, the frog had seen how the men spent a long time catching every frog there was in that lovely pond, except the one that was hiding, and when the men were finally gone, the frog knew something was wrong. It had decided it wouldn't be safe for it to stay at the pond and so it had began the long and exhausting journey to the castle where it knew it could find the prince and be safe. Many times the frog cursed its short legs small body, wishing to be human again to make the journey easier, but at the nightfall it was finally in the castle. _

_The servants were loud, and while listening to them the frog learned a lot about the castle and in the darkness it hopped to the prince's bedroom and hid itself under the prince's pillow to wait for the prince to return._

_But the prince never did, and the frog was left waiting in the silent room. Every time it heard footsteps outside the door it felt hope pinching its chest, but it was never the prince. Came morning, and the room was still empty. The following day was lonesome and filled with dark thoughts and so was the night, and finally the frog started to believe that maybe the prince had left the castle suddenly and wouldn't come back in a long long time. The frog had been alone in the pond for years already and it had wished the cold days of loneliness would finally end. _

_And the prince didn't come and the frog was left alone under the pillow until doubt was eating away all the hope, and when the story got to this part the prince held the frog a bit tighter in his arms and the frog spoke no more._

_The following days were filled with hidden joy and secrecy. The servants spoke of the prince and his suddenly changed mood; now the prince refused to leave his chambers and he ate like a beast. It must be because of the days of starvation, the servants said and happily gave the prince all the food he needed. _

_But nothing can last forever. When a few days had passed, the prince began noticing something odd in the frog's behavior. The frog was becoming restless and it began asking weird questions from the prince, questions the prince didn't know how to answer, and sometimes when the prince woke up in the night he saw the frog sitting by the window and staring outside. A few times the prince also noticed how the frog was looking around, as though searching for something special but never finding it, and in the end he decided something had to be done. The frog wasn't happy with what they had, and the prince knew he would have to get out and face his treacherous brother one day too._

It was full moon again and Sasuke lay awake in his bed, watching Naruto with narrowed lids. The frog was again sitting at the window but it was looking into the room , and the silhouette drawn against the starry sky was almost unnerving. The prince knew Naruto wasn't aware that he was awake and he wanted to keep it like that for now. They had spent only five days locked into his room but he could tell the frog didn't like it as much as he should, the indoors probably didn't feel good to him and Sasuke was almost willing to let him go. He wasn't sure where to take Naruto though, the pond clearly wasn't safe anymore and that was why he had avoided talking about leaving until this moment, hoping that maybe Naruto would just stay here.

But of course it couldn't continue for forever. The blonde was still a frog most of the time and he was just a commoner, not someone Sasuke could spend the rest of his life with. His parents still expected him to marry and a shape-shifting frog man definitely wasn't what they had in mind. He would have to do something about the situation, and no matter how much Sasuke enjoyed falling asleep next to Naruto he knew it couldn't continue.

But before Sasuke had the time to sit up and address Naruto, the frog was suddenly gone and the soft sound of the small animal hopping around reached his ears. It came closer and instinctively the prince closed his eyes, not wanting the other man to know that he was awake. He wasn't sure why he felt like it was the best to hide it but he did anyway, hoping that nothing too weird was going to happen.

Something heavy fell to the bed next to Sasuke's leg and he had to stop himself from shivering. Despite knowing what it was, he didn't really enjoy having something small and hopping in the dark room with him when he couldn't do nothing about it. The moon and the stars didn't really give enough light for him to see Naruto properly so he kept his eyes shut even as the weight started to get closer to his head.

However, instead of setting to his pillow the animal stopped moving before it got too close and then it was gone from the bed. Sauske listened carefully, trying to catch hints of where Naruto was headed, but in a long while nothing happened. The raven was almost ready to believe that maybe the frog had returned to the window when a soft thud rose from the floor, a sound of something very heavy falling to the floor and it was followed by an extremely irritated, loud curse.

Curiosity kicking in, Sasuke slowly lifted his head and blinked, pretending that he was just now waking up. His voice was hoarse and gruff enough to fool even himself.  
"Naruto? What are you doing?" he asked slowly, leaning over the edge of the bed to search for the frog with his eyes. A soft glow from the floor caught his eyes and he found himself staring at the beautiful glass ball Naruto had saved from the pond. The swirl inside the ball was moving rapidly and glowing brighter than ever before, and next to the ball sat Naruto, staring at the ball with an unreadable look on his green face.

The frog didn't seem to notice that it had been spoken to until a moment later. It jolted in surprise, but there had been so much time between the question and the reaction the prince thought it had to be an act. Slowly, Naruto turned away from the ball and looked up at the prince without saying a word. The huge blue eyes peered at Sasuke as though the animal was trying to say something but didn't know how, and after a long while Sasuke let out a sigh and reached to pick up Naruto and the ball.

The usually so cold surface of the ball felt nicely familiar in his palm and it contrasted starkly with Naruto's much heavier and not so smooth body in his other hand. As the ball was moved further away from the frog the swirling inside it seemed to tone down a little, and a frown crossed the raven's face as he watched the item thoughtfully. Slowly he moved his hands closer to each other, bringing Naruto closer to the ball as well. The frog turned to look at him but Sasuke didn't care, all his attention was on the ball that had started glowing again, and he could actually feel the swirling against his palm, something that had never happened before.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked and his voice sounded way too loud for the occasion, it broke the delicate silence and echoed on the stone walls but the prince didn't care, the fascinated eyes still examining the ball.

They fell back to silence again and somehow it seemed to fit the moment a lot better. Sasuke was sitting on his bed, holding the frog in one hand and the ball in the other almost as though he was weighing them in front of him, and slowly his eyes turned away from the ball and then returned to the frog, making the animal squirm under the intense staring.

"Naruto", the prince spoke softly, his voice low and quiet yet the frog couldn't miss a word he said, "what is this ball?"

"It's-", Naruto began before his lips were sealed once again. His eyes bulged in anger and he glared up at Sasuke, waiting almost patiently until the curse allowed him to speak again. When it did, the frog took a deep breath, his gaze dropping almost bashfully to the palm he was sitting on.

"I... Well..." He gulped and a soft croak followed, making the animal shift nervously.  
"Do you love me, Sasuke?"

Whatever the prince had expected that wasn't it. His eyes widened and he stared at the frog for a moment, taken aback by the firm voice and the bold question, but in the end he had to turn away, a deep frown on his face as he tried to ignore the odd stare the frog was giving him. The question had surprised Sasuke to the point where he didn't know what to say and that didn't happen often except when he was around Naruto it seemed, and idly he wondered how many surprises the frog could still carry within. He couldn't keep surprising the prince for forever, that was for sure.

But he knew he wouldn't be able to get away from the question, and slowly he shrugged to buy himself a bit more time. Did he love Naruto? The answer was easy. Sasuke had felt it coming when they had been together at the pond, the weird overpowering feeling that grew inside him whenever he was with the frog and that seemed to get even stronger when they were apart. He had missed Naruto's touch like nothing else every time they had been apart and he had never felt a need to be close to other person like he felt with Naruto. The prince had known it was there but he had never thought it would be smart to mention it to Naruto. They had been happy as they were, but now things had changed.

When he had thought he'd lost Naruto... It had been an entirely new feeling for Sasuke as well. Back then it had felt like his world was going to collapse and nothing in his life held meaning anymore, and if what caused those feelings wasn't love... Well, then Sasuke didn't want to fall in love, ever.

So yes, he knew what he should answer, but as he turned to look back to Naruto the words didn't come out. They got stuck in his throat, clinging to it like leeches and refusing to be blown out of his mouth. Three little words but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say three, no matter how true they were. He had never been in a situation where he couldn't speak even though he wanted to and it was the the newness was what was making him so cautious. A blank look slid to Sasuke's face as he stared back at the frog, trying to read the expressions going through the round blue eyes.

He didn't say anything and neither did Naruto, not in a long tine. Finally it was the frog that broke the silence, and the soft "I see" sounded sadder than anything Sasuke had ever heard. The weight was suddenly gone from his palm and his eyes found Naruto sitting on his pillow, his eyes closed and back turned to Sasuke. He wasn't exactly sulking but the raven had a fair idea why he acted like that and something very painful gripped his heart as he reached to put the ball away and then lay down, his head on the pillow close to Naruto. Not wanting to watch the frog he rolled over to his side with his back to the frog and then murmured a soft 'goodnight'. He wouldn't sleep that night either.

Or so he thought, but the prince had apparently fallen asleep at some point because when a loud knock came from his door Sasuke jolted awake, sitting up so rapidly his vision went fuzzy for a moment. The knock was repeated and he shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Yes?" he asked, trying his best to sound at least somewhat regal instead of like he'd just woken up.

"The Queen has requested you in the dining room immediately!" came an answer from behind the door and Sasuke almost rolled his eyes.  
"You are to have breakfast with her highness."

The prince let out a soft groan of exasperation and he sunk back to his bed, his head hitting the pillow. He did not want to get up yet and he most definitely didn't want to have breakfast with his mother, if only because she was never alone. Eating with her always meant eating with his father as well, and since Sasuke hadn't seen either of them after the fit he had thrown outside the castle he could just guess why they would like to eat with him.

"Can I come with you?" The words were spoken softly right into Sasuke's ear and the prince barely caught himself, almost jumping from surprise.

"What?" he asked, confused, and turned his head to look at Naruto. The frog was right there, sitting on his pillow and watching him, and for the millionth time Sasuke caught himself wondering why he didn't find the slimy creature disgusting. Most people he knew would've never agreed to even touch the animal let alone give it a chance to sleep in their bed, so why was Sasuke different? He supposed it was because he knew what Naruto truly was and what he looked like when he wasn't in this cursed form of his, but somewhere deep inside Sasuke knew that even if Naruto had been just a talking frog and nothing more, he wouldn't have minded anyway. He had liked being with Naruto when he had known nothing about the curse and it hadn't changed how he saw the frog up to this point.

The prince was shaken out of his thoughts as the frog croaked softly and did something that was probably a frown.  
"I want to come along. In a pocket or something." Naruto jumped away from the pillow and moved to stare at Sasuke demandingly from the floor.  
"Now hurry up bastard, I'm hungry!"

"Can't you eat a fly or something?" Sasuke grumbled as he climbed off his bed, shivering as the cold air hugged his body. He hurried to dress up, refusing to ask for his valet's help in something so simple, and when he was done he absentmindedly grabbed the glass ball from his desk and dropped it to his pocket. Naruto was hidden to another one before the prince left the room and followed the servant to the dining room.

It was way too big for just three people to eat in, the room had been meant to host huge celebration dinners for a large number of guests, yet there they were. The king and the queen of the Fire Country were sitting at the end of the huge table with numerous dished in front of them. They weren't eating since they were waiting for their son, and seeing the ever so patient look on his mother's face made Sasuke feel a bit bad for making them wait for that long.

He stopped when he was close enough to greet his parents, bowing formally in front of them and taking a seat only when his father had given him permission to do so. However, even when he was seated neither of the adults made a move to begin their breakfast. Sasuke sat in silence as well, wondering why they were so quiet, and then it struck him. There was a fourth plate on the table.

"Is Itachi joining us?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice calm; it would not be good to go crazy in front of his parents. Sasuke knew better than to gather any punishments of his father's on himself.

The said father was doing a good job ignoring his existence while the queen Mikoto turned to look at him with a gentle smile on her face.

"Yes, dear. We thought that it would be the best if you talked to him about your... issues. It would make me feel a lot better if I knew you two weren't fighting."

She was looking so genuinely concerned that it made guilt flare inside Sasuke as he forced himself to nod, trying to convince himself that the issues he had with Itachi would be easily talked about. After all, the man had just tried to feed the raven his lover and then act all innocent about what had happened, rubbing it to his face in public afterwards. Sasuke surely wouldn't stay mad at him even though the attempt that failed.

Lies, lies... The prince turned to look down at his plate, trying to keep himself calm. His hand slipped into his pocket and his fingers brushed gently against Naruto's skin, making him feel a little better. So Itachi had tried, it shouldn't be such a big deal. He hadn't succeeded anyway and that should be all that mattered. But no matter how hard Sasuke had tried for five days, he couldn't just let go of the hatred. His brother, his own brother had tried to kill Naruto in the worst possible way and Sasuke simply couldn't forgive him, it just wasn't possible.

He didn't get much further with his thoughts before a familiar voice caught his attention and he raised his gaze from the plate to meet his brother's. The look that flashed in Itachi's eyes told him the meal wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

The only thing holding Sasuke back as they ate was their parents' presence. No matter how much every little snide remark Itachi made had him wanting to hurt the man he couldn't bring himself to attack him in front of their parents. He knew enough of what his father thought of him and being a disappointment to his mother as well would've been too much. So he bore it all, ignoring Naruto's restless twitching and kicking in the pocket. Every time Itachi said something extremely sly the frog started squirming, reflecting Sasuke's feelings perfectly, and once or twice the movement in his pocket was the only thing that kept Sasuke from throwing himself at his brother and stabbing him with a fork; Naruto was still alive, no matter what Itachi thought.

They were almost through the breakfast already and it was becoming harder and harder for Sasuke to ignore his older brother. Itachi was getting bolder with his remarks by every moment and the younger raven was feeling his blood boil already. It was killing him, taking the whole thing without a word, but he didn't want to throw a fit, really not. That was, before Itachi was getting ready to leave.

"So, Sasuke...", the crown prince began, tapping the corners of his mouth with a napkin, "I hope the next time we have your lover over for a dinner, mother and father will have a chance to enjoy him as well."

"Lover? _Him?_" The king who hadn't really paid attention to anything said in the table before turned to look at Sasuke with an outraged look on his face. He had clearly been snapped out of his peaceful daydreaming by those words, it always happened when he found another opportunity to nag at his younger son.  
"What is Itachi talking about?"

Sasuke froze much unlike the frog in his pocket, keeping his head up instead of turning to look down like his instincts told him to when faced with a look like that from his father.  
"I..."

"What in the name of the Devil has been going on here?" Fugaku didn't sound too pleased at all, his voice was getting louder despite his wife's hand that was now resting on his arm.

"Oh, nothing much. The _forester_ Sasuke has sneaked out to meet for months just gave us the honor of dining with us a few days ago", Itachi explained with a voice so carefree that one could be fooled into thinking he hadn't meant to cause a ruckus like this at all.

Fugaku instead began to look even more horrified. His face was turning red and his nostrils flared as he stared at his younger son who was caught between making a quick exit and throwing something at Itachi.

"It's not like he will be coming ever again though. I think he wasn't satisfied with our food."

The latter won. A loud clatter of a chair falling to the floor emerged as Sasuke jumped up and turned to face his brother, ignoring his father that had stood up as well and opened his mouth to say something. His hand searched for something to throw and without thinking about it he grabbed the ball from his pocket, ignoring the struggle of Naruto who was trying to climb out of his pocket.

"That's because you tried to make me eat him, you sick bastard!" He didn't have the chance to think about it anymore. The ball was flying through the air when Naruto's horrified 'NO!' and his mother's faint scream reached his ears, and Sasuke could only stare as the ball hit his brother in the shoulder and fell to the floor. Had he really thrown his brother with a ball? With _that_ ball? It crashed on the stone with a loud crack and for a few seconds it was quiet in the room.

Naruto was staring at Sasuke with a look of pure terror in his eyes and no-one seemed to notice Mikoto's quiet 'Eat him?' but then everyone's eyes turned to the crushed glass ball. The swirl inside it had began to grow and mold and the light blue substance that definitely didn't look like water anymore was swirling like mad for a moment before it was suddenly surrounding Naruto, hiding the tiny animal like a curtain. Sasuke heard the croak from within the blue mist but as he tried to move closer to whisk it away a flash of light emerged from the middle of the mist.

Somewhere in the background Mikoto screamed again and something fell, the sound of servants rushing into the room being muffled by an odd scraping sound.

"Naruto!" Sasuke didn't even recognize his own voice. His eyes were running from the sudden burst of light and he blinked rapidly, trying to see again. Something had happened to Naruto, he could feel it, and he couldn't do anything to help, he couldn't do _anything_, and when he heard his lover yell he finally pushed forward, ignoring the temporary blindness and the way his father was yelling his name furiously.

And then his sight began to return. In the middle of the table, where Naruto the frog had been a moment ago, now sat a very naked young man with bright blond hair and eyes that were squeezed shut tight. He was sitting in the huge bowl that had been used to serve pudding and he was covered with pudding stains all the way up to his chest. The man was trying to cover his head as if he was expecting someone to come and hit him at any moment and he seemed extremely tense, almost afraid.

"What on earth..."

Ignoring his mother, Sasuke reached out carefully and touched Naruto's shoulder, his mind hitting blank. What was this, what was going on? Why wasn't Naruto a frog anymore?

"Naruto?" he whispered, and slowly a blue eye peeked from between the tanned arms.

"Sasuke?" His voice was different but not much. The frog-ish croaking undertone was gone, and as he slowly unfolded his arms the raven noticed that the green ting from Naruto's hair was gone as well.

"I'm alive!"

The prince didn't get a warning before those same arms were suddenly wrapped around him and he was pulled into a fierce kiss. He heard a distant thump from the background and he supposed it was his mother fainting but he couldn't care less, even about his father yelling orders to the guards.

"Oh God, Sasuke, you scared me you bastard... I love you too", the blonde murmured against his lips, his sky blue eyes shining at Sasuke for a moment before he pushed the prince back and jumped off the table, pulling the food bowl along and creating a puddle of the remaining pudding on the floor.

"Oops..."

Then, with absolutely no shame about his nudity he turned to face the remaining members of Sasuke's family, who all stood staring at him with completely stupefied looks on their faces, and took a deep bow.

"Let me introduce myself", Naruto started, his voice immediately adapting to the most serious and polite tone Sasuke had ever heard him use, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the missing crown prince of the Whirlpool Country. It's very nice to meet you all, and I'm happy to tell you that I'm here to ask you for your son's hand in marriage."

Suddenly Sasuke didn't think it was so weird at all that his mother had fainted.

_The shock wore off slowly. A pigeon was sent to the Whirlpool Country and the unexpected royal guest was given his own room, but only after a few days the king and the queen of the Fire Country were ready to grant the visiting prince a real audience. The crown prince of the Fire Kingdom wasn't seen in the castle for days after the frog's transformation and in the middle of the wild gossips about his part in the story it wasn't a surprise. But the prince of the Whirlpool Country surprised especially his heart's chosen with how beautifully he spoke to others and how easily he was able to wrap the queen of the Fire Country around his finger. And of course, the first thing he was asked about was the curse. _

_The curse the witch had laid on the prince of Whirlpool Kingdom had tied his tongue and changed his form, allowing to speak about the curse only to those that found about it themselves. The piece stolen form the prince's soul the witch had tied to an ordinary glass ball that had been given to a common merchant to sell on the market; a way that was meant to ensure it would never get back to the prince. And yet even if it did, to lift the curse the one who freed the last piece of the swirling soul had to be special. The only person that could break the ball and free the soul had to be the one that the prince's heart had chosen and whose heart had chosen the frog prince as well. Had there not been love in their hearts the moment the ball was broken, the curse would've stolen the life of the golden prince. _

_It had been because of the curse that the frog had asked the Fire Kingdom's prince about his love that one night, and while the prince regretted not telling the truth he couldn't complain. Right after the story about the curse and the frog prince's desperate travels to the Fire Country began the talk about the wedding, and the dark-haired prince found himself in the middle of the action. The king was giving his son away, though unwillingly, only because by getting his younger son out of the castle he might be saved from having to punish the crown prince for the assassination attempt._

_And one day in the middle of the wedding preparations the castle doors were thrown open and a tall woman with flaming red hair stormed inside like she was running from the Devil himself and demanded to see her son immediately. The eccentric queen of the Whirlpool Country had left her throne the moment the pigeon had arrived and she had ridden to the Fire Country with only two guards with her, shocking both countries by her behavior. But she refused to be absent from her son's wedding, and despite she mentioned arranging them a second wedding in Whirlpool Country she took part in the wedding at Fire Country's royal castle, sobbing through the whole ceremony and then smacking her son in the head for making her worry._

_Then it was time to leave. The former prince of the Fire Country left his home without regret, kissing his mother goodbye. Never again did he saw his brother, not even in the wedding, and he bid the country his farewell, taking only his loyal valet with him. The second wedding was glorious and the prince was warmly welcomed to his new family. One day he would rule Whirlpool Kingdom by the country's own prince's side, but it wasn't the power he was happiest about. He had never dreamed of a life with someone he loved and that loved him back and to be able to stay by his frog was all he could ask for._

_...and so they lived happily every after. _

"Naruto? What the hell was that sound?"

"...croak?"

"...you have got to be kidding me."

_Well, mostly anyway._

The end_  
_


End file.
